January's Resolutions Review

January is coming to an end!

I'm happy that I made some progress on my 2015 resolutions:

1. Live a healthy life.

- We've been drinking our homemade ABC juice once a week now. Hope to keep up with this family tradition. It helps that ABC juice is super yummy! 

- On weekdays, I try to have either yong tau foo bee hoon soup or herbal soup with rice for lunch. So far, this is becoming a habit =D thank goodness my colleagues eat healthily too. 

I've been avoiding sweet drinks for lunch too!

- Been trying the -less or no carb- dinner diet. This is the hardest task to me actually. I just love my rice, especially white rice! 

- So far, I've been jogging at least once or twice a week. Started off with 2km... And now I've gone to 3km. Really glad about this accomplishment! I guess the trick is to continue jogging to maintain my stamina. It's always easier to continue than to stop jogging for a period of time then restart all over.

So far my weight has dropped slightly! The lowest that I've gone is 53.9kg and I hope it stays there lol. It's no easy task! Need to fight fight fight!

(Little Leia) Where is?

Leia can totally recognize her toys now! 

We will always go 'Where is... Dog?!' and she'll run along to find her best stuffed toy friend. She can recognize Popiz (this pink, rabbit looking entity lol) and monkey too and gets them when we ask her to look. Kinda like a puppy herself hehehe.

Recently, she has learnt to point and demand for things as well. Especially at the dining table. She eyes whatever that we're eating with that 'I must have that!' face and demands that we feed her! I can only say that I'm happy that she's interested in what we're eating =D

(Family time) Morning @ Gardens by the bay!

We went to Gardens by the bay saturday morning to watch some greens! 

Just my mum, jo, leia and me =) One of my resolutions this year is to bring leia to new places. And of course to spend more time with family. 

It's great to go to the Gardens in the morning. No crowds. That's what I love! It's better to go reaaaalllly early though. We were there at 10am and it was quite hot! We were thankful for no rain nonetheless.

It's such a great place to stroll around leiaurely and take in all the greenery. Good to bring children since there's soooo much space for them to wander and play. I like to expose Leia to more nature from young so she'll learn to appreciate it early.

We intend to go back to visit the flower and cloud domes nearing CNY. Nicer flowers then!

(Little Leia) New discoveries!

My heart always fills up with so much love when I look like at my little one. And sometimes, I wish time could stand still because I feel so happy looking at her. The joy multiplies when she smiles at me or holds onto me... Or laughs her wondrous laugh. I wish I could record all these moments mentally forever! 

My little darling has been growing sooo fast! She's picking up so many things so quickly!

1. She can walk now if you hold onto one of her little hands. And when I hold out my arms to her, she can take 2 to 3 steps forward into my arms! And she's always so happy when she successfully does it.

2. Just yesterday, she finally learnt how to hold her water bottle and drink from it =D

3. Leia calls butterfly 'baaa' and flaps the book like a butterfly.

4. She knows how to say dog! And she makes the cutest barking noise that resembles a seal when she sees her fluffy dog. 

5. She goes mmm when I go moooo like a cow lol. 

2015 New year resolutions!

My 2015 resolutions! 

1. Live a healthy life.

In 2014, I ate my veggies, steamed and soupy dishes since I could decide what to eat for meals at home. Didn't do as well on the whole grains though! Didn't exercise consistently either! I'm going to:

- Eat more whole grains like brown rice.

- Drink more water and fresh fruit juice (eg. ABC) once a week.

- Continue with soup and steam dishes.

- Exercise once a week! I'm going to be realistic and try to go back to exercising once a week first. 

- Try to lose 1kg to 54kg!

2. Be a good wife

In 2014, to be honest, I didn't do very well in this area. Now that Leia is a little older, I hope I can spend more quality time with G. 

- Spend more quality time with the hubba. Do couply things! I'm hoping to set aside Saturday for date night.

- Be more encouraging and supportive. 

- Minimize nagging and blaming!

3. Be a good mummy 

I'm happy to say that I tried my best to be a good mummy to Leia in 2014! Managed to meet my resolutions in this Aspect. In 2015, I hope to:

- Read more and teach Leia her ABCs and 123s.

- Learn to play with her more and make her laugh! 

- Teach her how to self feed and drink.

- Teach her how to walk =D

- Continue to take lots of photos of leia and document her toddler memories!

4. Continue to connect with family and friends. 

In 2014, I've done pretty well! I visited home regularly and went for most of my friends birthday celebrations and gatherings =D I hope to:

 

- Visit home at least once a week, instead of 2 last year. Trying to set aside every Wednesday! 

- Talk and connect more with my close friends

6. Find time for my hobbies like make up and craft and decor. 

- Experiment with more make up and looks!

- Learn how to better photo and video edit!

- Craft decor for special occasions like Chinese new year, Birthdays, Halloween, Christmas. 

Goodbye 2014.

2014 was an eventful and significant year for me. So many things happened. I've grown so much over the past year.

 

My main highlights:

1. Learning to be mummy. 

I gave birth to Leia in December 2013. So 2014 really was about me learning how to be a parent... From the basics of feeding my child, changing diapers, bathing her... Trying to soothe her when she cries. Getting her to sleep at night or nap in the day. 

Struggling with lost sleep and emotional coaster rides post delivery. Getting used to loss of me and couple time.

Becoming mentally stronger to deal with all challenges because I love Leia so much. 

I believe I've grown in ways that hard to describe in words. If you're a mummy, you would understand.

2. Watching Leia grow up so so fast.

They always say children grow up so fast. And it's especially true in their 1st year! It's amazing how they transform from a little newborn to a toddler at one year old. The 1st year yields the most milestones! 

A lot of 2014 holds moments of me delighting in Leia doing new things.

3. Renovation and moving into our home at Punggol.

Yes, we moved into our very own home on 30th April this year. Designed just the way we wanted. Having your own place to stay is seriously one of the best joys and milestones in life. 

You have your own space to create memories for your own family. A place to seek comfort and rest from the outside world. A place to do anything you want!

After moving in, I've learnt how to grocery shop and manage the household. Now I can proudly say that I'm capable of grocery shopping own my own and I do it very systematically! Lol.

3. Engaging a helper and becoming an employer.

We hires a domestic helper from Philippines when we knew we were going to move to Punggol. 

We're so thankful to have her help and stay with us. She's good with Leia, which is the most important thing since I've gone back to working flexi time.

I've learnt how to become an employer, which isn't easy. There are many things to balance. You have to treat your helper right yet at the same time, maintain authority and assertiveness at times. 

4. Going back to work after half a year of maternity leave. 

Honestly, I was dreading going back to work because I wanted to spend more time with Leia. But it turned out well because working kept my mind active and busy. 

And I had an interesting project to do when I went back so it was a good experience. I was lucky to be offered the option to work flexi time, until 3pm everyday so that I can go back early to Leia =). Really thankful for that. 

5. Completing a major work project in September. 

I learnt so much during this project and met some really fantastic mentors who are so patient to guide me and the team. 

6. Couple trip to Hong Kong in December!

We enjoyed the trip immensely, especially since we haven't travelled in a while. We had much couple time needed to connect with each other again.

7. Leia's 1st birthday party!

8. Our 2nd year Anniversary. 

We celebrated simply by having dinner at Ambush then watched Hobbit at PS. I originally planned to have a fancy dinner at Black Swan with G but we felt it was more us to do the former.

9. Celebrating our first Christmas as a family and at our own home!

We invited my family over to have a cosy Christmas celebration during lunch. Always nice to have family around.

I remember how my mum, brother and I would celebrate Christmas by going to town together and see the lights. Such memories are precious. 

(Little Leia) Learning so fast!

For the past 2 weeks, Leia has been picking up things really fast! Is this what happens when they turn a year old?!

1. She knows how to wave and say bye! But sometimes, she says 'dye' instead, which is so funny. I love it when she waves her little hand whenever we go to the door.

2. I love this one. Leia literally roars like a baby cub when I say 'lion'. I just discovered this! She learnt this because whenever I read Dear Zoo (one of her favourites), I roar immediately after I point and mention the lion to her. G heard witnessed this yesterday, and he found it hilarious!

3. She's been pointing at things and says 'dis'. I've been reading to her regularly and asking her 'what's this?' when I point at images. Maybe that's how she picked it up!

4. Uhhhh... She points with her middle finger. I have no idea why! No one taught her that and I've been trying to correct her -.- hopefully she will outgrow this phase!

5. In the evenings, I call G using the house phone and I always let her watch me use it. So recently, when she holds the house phone, she puts it next to her ear and says 'hieee'. It's the cutest thing ever. And it's so funny cos she always holds the phone the wrong side.